With the loss against Stony Brook on Friday, the River Hawks dropped to a 3-12 overall record and a 1-5 conference record. (Courtesy of UMass Lowell Athletics)

Kathryn Leeber
Connector Editor

The men’s lacrosse team was defeated by the Stony Brook Seawolves, 12-11, in their last home game of the season. The conference matchup went into overtime play following a comeback by the River Hawks to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

The game honored the four seniors from UMass Lowell, defenseman Chris Litchfield, goalkeeper Giles Ober and midfielders Nicholas Pino and Martin Winter during Senior Night at Cushing Field.

Senior midfielder Alex Corpolongo scored five goals for the Seawolves, leading the team to their victory.

With four consecutive goals in the second quarter, Stony Brook took the lead of the game, but UMass Lowell was able to make a large comeback in the fourth quarter to tie the game and send it into overtime.

“The conference is just so competitive, we knew that coming in, but I really would’ve loved to get this for the seniors,” said UMass Lowell head coach Ed Stephenson.

The Seawolves were able to take an early lead with Corpolongo scoring the first goal of the game four minutes in, with an assist from senior attacker Ryan Bitzer.

Within minutes, midfielder Owen Daly stretched the lead to 2-0 for Stony Brook. The River Hawks, however, put an end to the Seawolves’ scoring opportunities in the first quarter with their first goal from sophomore attack/midfielder Austin Lane in the tenth minute.

Midfielder Jon Phillips followed with another goal and with six seconds left, fellow midfielder Daniel Cozzi added a goal to take the lead 3-2.

UMass Lowell found most of their scoring chances without driving in near the goalkeeper, but rather staying on the perimeter.

The second quarter began much like the first with more of the pressure coming from Stony Brook. The River Hawks were only able to score one goal in this quarter, while the Seawolves had five.

The lone UMass Lowell goal came from junior midfielder Sam Klingsporn in the fourth minute. Even with more shots from both teams this quarter, there were just as many saves.

Stony Brook’s Corpolongo had two more goals this quarter to contribute to the win. Within seconds of his third goal of the game, freshman Harrison Matsuoka added a goal to take the lead 5-4.

Going into the second half, the Seawolves had a strong lead with a score of 7-4.

UMass Lowell tried to make a comeback in the third quarter with three different goal scorers. Less than 30 seconds into the quarter, junior attack/midfielder Matthew Balter scored.

Just as the rain really started to pour down, the Seawolves reciprocated with a goal from junior Jake Sheets. Freshman Wayne White added a goal with an assist from Bitzer, his fourth of the night.

Pino kicked off the River Hawks’ comeback in the ninth minute, bringing the score to 9-6.

UMass Lowell continued this momentum into the fourth quarter, with Balter’s second goal of the game propelling them forward. The Seawolves countered with two goals from Corpolongo. These would be his last goals of the night, but he led the game with five goals.

The River Hawks were able to tie the game with three consecutive goals from Cozzi, junior attack/midfielder Sean Tyrrell and Phillips, respectively.

Stony Brook held most of the possession at the end of regulation time, but could not seem to get near the goal. With seven minutes remaining, neither team was able to score and the game went into overtime.

The four-minute overtime began with the Seawolves winning the face-off, as they had most of the game. UMass Lowell goalkeeper Grant Lardieri had some major saves, as Stony Brook held onto the ball and continually tried to score.

It was not until the last minute that Stony Brook freshman Connor Grippe scored, giving his team the win as they rushed onto the field.

“We’ve got one more game to go, so we’re excited about that. It’s a hard one to swallow when you come up short,” said Stephenson.

The River Hawks fall to a 3-12 overall record and 1-5 America East, while Stony Brook moves to 7-5, 3-2 America East. UMass Lowell takes on New Jersey Institute of Technology on the road for their last game on Saturday, April 29.